Best Red Velvet Cake

Name: Best Red Velvet Cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 10
Ingredients: ½ cup butter (113 grams, room temperature,); 2 tsp vanilla extract; 1 cup buttermilk (240ml, room temperature); 1 tbsp vinegar; 2 eggs (room temperature); 3 tbsp cocoa powder; 2 ½ cups flour (320 grams); 1 ½ cups granulated sugar (300 grams); 2 tsp powdered red food coloring; 1 tsp kosher salt; 1 tsp baking soda; 3 sticks butter (340g, room temperature unsalted); 1 ½ lb confectioners sugar (550g, sifted); 16 oz cream cheese (455g, room temperature); 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1 pinch kosher salt; 1/2 cup unsalted butter (113g, room temperature); 1 ½ cups Confectioners sugar (550g, sifted); 1/2 tsp rose water; pink, yellow, orange food coloring; matcha powder

Last updated on August 18, 2018 by John K. 29 Comments

A light chocolate cake with lots of addictive cream cheese frosting and a crown of buttercream roses. This cake is moist but so light and fluffy, it really is the perfect match for all that delicious frosting! You can make this without any food coloring and it will be a light tan color, not quite red, but it will be eaten just as quickly!

photo of Red Velvet Cake covered in buttercream roses on a white cake stand with a piece being removed

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I did a lot of recipe testing for this much-requested cake but in the end I lightly adapted the recipe for the batter from a New York Times recipe. Wonderful moist fluffy sponge, and I loved the typo saying it made 8 inch layers! LOL, even the best of us make mistakes…Check out my Chocolate Beet Cake to see what happens when you skip the food coloring!

Anyhow it’s the vinegar that makes a huge difference, acid reacts with the leavening agents to give you a fluffier cake.

About the Decoration Scheme

I covered the outside in crumbs and topped it with delicate buttercream flowers for some extra visual oomph. A definite time saver would be to pipe some cream cheese frosting dollops on top or make a rope pattern like I used in my dulce de leche cake.

If you find cake decorating to be a bit intimidating then check out my How to Decorate a Cake post, it has lots of helpful tips and a full how to video. I’ve got a Buttercream flower tutorial up on the blog as well! Check it out

Some Suggestions

If you’re not using 6-inch pans, double the recipe for 8-inch pans or triple the recipe for 9-inch pans.
Skip the food coloring if you want a great tasting cake that isn’t red.
To get FLAT layers that are moist inside and out try using cake strips! You can buy a set on the shop page or make your own from foil and paper towels at home. I made a whole blog post on it so check it out if you’re interested!
For nice uniform crumbs for decorating use the fine grater, or just whip out that cheese grater!
This recipe makes an AWESOME sheet cake! You’ll save tons of time and you can pour less sugar into the cream cheese frosting since you won’t have to worry about consistency. I would use approximately a 9×13 inch pan if you’re making this as a sheet cake.

Steps to Make this Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and cocoa powder three 6-inch cake pans. Add 1 cupcake paper to a pan. In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the room temperature butter. Add in sugar and mix on medium until combined. Add eggs in one at a time and beat. Add vanilla extract. In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients together.
Sift the cocoa powder into the butter mixture and cream together.
Add red food coloring and vinegar to the buttermilk. Add ½ of the dry and ½ of the wet to the butter mixture until combined. Add the red buttermilk mixture and beat. Pour the batter into the three prepared pans. Add any extra batter to a cupcake paper. This will be used for the crumble. Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until the centers are springy to the touch. Bake the crumble cupcake for about 15-20 minutes. When done, let them cool in their pans for about 5 minutes, then dump them out onto a wire rack.
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter. Sift confectioners sugar into a large bowl. Add room temperature cream cheese to the creamed butter. Add vanilla and a pinch of salt. Beat together. Add the confectioners sugar in cups. Mix until combined. If you’re wanting a stronger buttercream, keep adding more sifted confectioners sugar until you reach a desired consistency. Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag and snip off the tip.
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the room temperature butter until smooth. Sift in the confectioner’s sugar. Beat until you get to a desired consistency. Add the rose water. Make sure the buttercream is thick. Dye a few batches yellow, soft pink and pink. Use some matcha powder to create a natural leaf color. Transfer the green buttercream to a bag fitted with a 68 tip. Cut a square of parchment paper. Use a tiny bit of buttercream to glue down the paper onto a piping nail. For the roses, place a small cone of very thick buttercream in the middle of the square. Add bits of yellow in the middle for added dimension. Pipe the petals using a 127 tip.
To create the crumbs, you can either break up the cupcake by hand or use a grater. I find that using the grater gives you a more consistent crumb for decorating.
Pipe a thick layer of cream cheese frosting between each layer. Cover the cake in frosting. Use a bench scraper and offset spatula to smooth out the cake. Transfer to the fridge to chill for about 10 minutes or until the frosting is a bit set. If you’re in a warm climate, let your cake chill for even longer!
Using your hand, scoop crumbs onto the side and top of the cake until it’s completely covered. Arrange the flowers on top of the cake. Pipe in leaves using the green buttercream.

If you’ve tried this recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!